Ada M. Patterson: To Be Rewritten On Banana Leaves
Through addressing the complex nature of bodies queered by crisis, bodies passed over as invisible and disposable, bodies confronted with the physical realities of a world not designed for their survival, Patterson's work attempts to find elegy for figures and moments already fading away.
Presented for the first time in London, the video work The Whole World Is Turning centers the exhibition around a queer retelling of hurricanes. This work was conceived by Patterson after Hurricane Dorian hit the Caribbean and devastated the Bahamas in the autumn of 2019, leaving a wake of material and emotional turmoil.
Tropical hurricanes have always played a key part in the social fabric of life and death within the Caribbean, which is one of the front lines of the climate crisis. Yet rising sea levels and temperatures continue to exacerbate the destructive effects of hurricane season. Rather than casting the hurricane as a malignant force of nature to blame, or a spirit of revenge to curse, Patterson casts it as a regular visitor and familiar guest disorientated. Personified with a swollen eye the hurricane appears confused and unable to explain herself. Perhaps we should view the erratic behavior she exhibits, as well as our own erratic experiences, as symptoms of our world being caught in the crosshairs of climate imperialism rather than her as the primary agent of destruction.
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Through addressing the complex nature of bodies queered by crisis, bodies passed over as invisible and disposable, bodies confronted with the physical realities of a world not designed for their survival, Patterson's work attempts to find elegy for figures and moments already fading away.
Presented for the first time in London, the video work The Whole World Is Turning centers the exhibition around a queer retelling of hurricanes. This work was conceived by Patterson after Hurricane Dorian hit the Caribbean and devastated the Bahamas in the autumn of 2019, leaving a wake of material and emotional turmoil.
Tropical hurricanes have always played a key part in the social fabric of life and death within the Caribbean, which is one of the front lines of the climate crisis. Yet rising sea levels and temperatures continue to exacerbate the destructive effects of hurricane season. Rather than casting the hurricane as a malignant force of nature to blame, or a spirit of revenge to curse, Patterson casts it as a regular visitor and familiar guest disorientated. Personified with a swollen eye the hurricane appears confused and unable to explain herself. Perhaps we should view the erratic behavior she exhibits, as well as our own erratic experiences, as symptoms of our world being caught in the crosshairs of climate imperialism rather than her as the primary agent of destruction.
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